SHOCKING VIDEO: Parents want others to see footage of road rage smash that left two young daughters paralysed

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Published:07:41Friday 27 May 2016

A devastated family have released this shocking dashcam footage of the moment their lives changed forever when a road rage driver - chasing a car he believed had ‘cut him up’ - recklessly swerved into their path, causing an horrific smash.

His actions left two little girls - aged five and eight at the time - paralysed. And a court has heard from their traumatised parents that they still ask each day ‘when will we start feeling our legs again?’

Katrina and Karlina - left paralysed after the smash

Now parents Roberts and Renate Raiba, who say their lives have been “shattered” after the accident last October, want others to see the footage and be aware of the devastating consequences of reckless driving.

Mr Raiba was driving his Vauxhall Signum, which contained his wife and daughters Katrina and Karlina, along the A509 near Wellingborough when Andrew Nay, driving his company Jaguar Land Rover, pulled across their path.

Dashcam footage from Mr Raiba’s car shows how he had no chance of avoiding the collision that left his daughters with life-changing injuries.

Mr Raiba also suffered severe injuries, including a fractured shoulder blade and nerve damage to his hand. His wife suffered a broken arm and nerve damage.

This is one of the most heartbreaking cases I have ever had to deal with

Lawyer

Northampton Crown Court heard Nay had been chasing a Mazda car from the A14 roundabout because he believed it had cut him up.

A three-day Newton Hearing heard evidence from several fellow motorists, including the female driver of the Mazda who said Nay was aggressively tailgating and “bullying” her as he followed her vehicle.

Matthew Rowcliffe, prosecuting, said the woman admitted putting her hand out the window and “sticking her middle finger up” at Nay as he was “less than a car length” away from her vehicle.

The court heard the woman overtook a Mercedes to put a car between the two vehicles but was not able to make further progress up the road due to heavy traffic.

The moment of disaster

Fraser Hopes, the driver of the Mercedes, said Nay’s Land Rover then began to tailgate him and in his rear view mirror he could see two men “smiling” and “having a laugh” about something.

Mr Rowcliffe said it was the prosecution’s case Nay and his partner, who was the passenger in the car, found it amusing the vehicle they had been chasing had been forced into the overtaking manoeuvre.

A short distance later, the Mazda took a right turn towards Little Harrowden and Mr Hopes slowed his Mercedes to do the same.

The camera footage shows Nay pulls out to the left of the Mercedes and then pulls a sharp right across oncoming traffic in pursuit of the Mazda, causing the crash with Mr Raiba’s car.

Roberts and Renate Raiba

Nay, of Harrier Close, Weldon, near Corby, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving but denied the road rage part of the incident.

However, Judge Adrienne Lucking QC ruled against Nay’s claim the right-hand turn had been a “split-second” error of judgement and he “could not remember” anything untoward happening with the Mazda on the A509.

Judge Lucking said: “I have heard evidence from a series of witnesses travelling in the same direction as the Land Rover.

“In each case their evidence was given in measured terms, without exaggeration. By contrast I found the defendant’s evidence unconvincing and inconsistent.”

During the trial, the court heard Nay(39) was an off-road Land Rover driving instructor and had 21 years at the wheel.

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced today. Judge Lucking said an immediate custodial sentence was likely.

The start of the manoeuvre that led to the accident

Commenting after the court’s ruling, Mr and Mrs Raiba, originally from Latvia, said their lives had been “completely shattered” by Nay’s actions and no sentence would be enough.